On Friday morning, P walked in to wake Caroline up for school and she literally leapt out of bed, ran into the kitchen and stood there trembling with excitement and firing off words at a rate that would make the speed of light jealous, while I did my best to match her enthusiasm in spite of the fact that it was 7:00 a.m. and I was slaving over frozen waffles as opposed to lying in bed. The reason for all that excitement was due to two reasons: pajama day at school and a road trip to Bryan/College Station with Gulley and the boys for the weekend.
That was the sixth attempt at a photo and the only one that wasn’t blurry due to ALL THE EXCITEMENT. It was the kind of energy that would make Richard Simmons suggest that maybe you should settle down and I’m talking about the Richard Simmons from the height of the golden age of Sweatin’ to the Oldies.
I picked her up after school and we came straight home because Gulley and the boys were on their way to pick us up. We made one quick stop at a convenience store to ensure we had the proper amount of candy for the trip (You know what excited kids need? MORE SUGAR.) and then we made the rest of the almost three hour drive without stopping. Read that sentence again and let the weight settle on you. We DID NOT STOP for the next three hours. It was a road trip miracle.
However, when Will began asking “How much longer ’til we get there? Two thousand hours?” at fifteen second intervals about twenty minutes into the trip, I banned them from asking any version of “How much longer?” until someone saw the Aggie water tower which would signal that we were about ten minutes away from Honey and Big’s house. I guess the Aggie water tower became like a mirage in the desert because it was astounding how many times they saw it over the course of the next two and a half hours.
We finally arrived at Honey’s and she had a pot of shrimp creole on the stove and some of the best dip I’ve ever tasted waiting for us. In all seriousness, I am sad for all of you right now because I don’t know if you’ve ever had this dip and your life won’t be complete without it. I vow to get the recipe before the week is over and post it because no one should have to live without this kind of goodness in your life and on your crackers or Fritos or what have you.
Nena was also there when we arrived and she’d surprised Honey by making a vegetable casserole to go along with the shrimp creole. Ever since a few assorted cooking incidents, including the time she nearly poisoned her Sunday School class, people in the know are a little frightened by what kind of homemade goodness might come from Nena’s kitchen. I knew all I needed to know when everyone went to serve their plates and no one helped themselves to Nena’s casserole. I think we were all scared because when Gulley asked her specifically what kind of vegetables were in her vegetable casserole, she replied, “Vegetables”.
That’s the sort of vague answer that you just know contains a can of Veg-All somewhere in the mix.
After we all finished dinner, Nena cornered me in the kitchen and said, “Melanie! I want you to taste some of my vegetable casserole while it’s still warm!” And it was at that moment that Gulley, my best friend of twenty years, threw me under the Veg-All bus. She couldn’t even look at me, but I saw her holding in the laughter as she fled the scene. In fact, the whole family fled the scene and just left me there. Alone and defenseless.
I picked up a fork, wondering all the while how I could get out of this situation gracefully, especially since I’m finicky about the texture of my food. Water chestnuts have been known to make me dry heave so you can only imagine my fear of canned mixed unidentifiable vegetables.
Just as I knew my casserole fate was sealed, Caroline yelled out, “Mama! I need you to come help me get in the bathtub!” I was saved by the bath.
The next day I told Nena that her casserole was delicious. In all honesty, I didn’t try the casserole but for all I know it could have been delicious and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
And then she gave me the recipe which did, in fact, contain a can of something she referred to as Stockley’s Mixed Vegetables. So while I can’t give you the recipe for one of the best dips I’ve ever tasted, I am completely prepared to give you the recipe for vegetable casserole.
I apologize.
And on a perfectly delightful note, this was the front of the Sports page in the Bryan/College Station Eagle yesterday morning.
Yes, it was a total surprise that the Aggies beat Tech in Lubbock for the first time since 1993 (I was still a student at the time so that means it was approximately FOREVER AGO) but the fact that the headline said “Surprise!” made me so happy. You know your football team isn’t quite the powerhouse of yore when the local sports page leads with “Surprise!” when you win.
I have more stories from the weekend, but I’ll have to fill you in later because there’s a line of storms headed this way and it’s just a matter of minutes before Caroline senses imminent thunder and needs to get in our bed and spend the rest of the night kicking me in the back.